Question: I find the follow sentence that you wrote rather
interesting: "Thus good works must always accompany true faith; if
they are absent there is neither living faith nor salvation." That
sounds an awful lot like the Book of James (i.e. faith without works is
dead). It also sounds like you are saying that a person cannot have
salvation without "good works;" which appears to be straying
from Sola Fide. Any comments you have would be appreciated.

Answer: Sola fide is perfectly consistent with the Book
of James [www.justforcatholics.org/a85.htm]. Moreover, I am not
departing from the Protestant understanding of sola fide. The historic
Protestant confessions are unanimous in their teaching that:

Justification is by faith alone, not the merits of personal works.

The faith that justifies is a living faith, and necessarily
produces good works.

Please take the time to read the following excerpts from the main
historic Protestant confessions of faith to verify that this is so.

THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION 1530

Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own
strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake,
through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and
that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has
made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness
in His sight.

Also they teach that this faith is bound to bring forth good fruits,
and that it is necessary to do good works commanded by God, because of
God's will, but that we should not rely on those works to merit
justification before God. For remission of sins and justification is
apprehended by faith, as also the voice of Christ attests: When ye shall
have done all these things, say: We are unprofitable servants. Luke 17,
10. The same is also taught by the Fathers. For Ambrose says: It is
ordained of God that he who believes in Christ is saved, freely
receiving remission of sins, without works, by faith alone.

THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES 1572

We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or
deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a most
wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is
expressed in the Homily of Justification.

Albeit that Good Works, which are the fruits of Faith, and follow
after Justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity
of God's judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in
Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith
insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree
discerned by the fruit.

THE BELGIC CONFESSION 1618

We believe that our blessedness lies in the forgiveness of our sins
because of Jesus Christ, and that in it our righteousness before God is
contained, as David and Paul teach us when they declare that man blessed
to whom God grants righteousness apart from works.

And the same apostle says that we are justified "freely" or
"by grace" through redemption in Jesus Christ. And therefore
we cling to this foundation, which is firm forever, giving all glory to
God, humbling ourselves, and recognizing ourselves as we are; not
claiming a thing for ourselves or our merits and leaning and resting on
the sole obedience of Christ crucified, which is ours when we believe in
himů

We believe that this true faith, produced in man by the hearing of
God's Word and by the work of the Holy Spirit, regenerates him and makes
him a "new man," causing him to live the "new life"
and freeing him from the slavery of sin.

Therefore, far from making people cold toward living in a pious and
holy way, this justifying faith, quite to the contrary, so works within
them that apart from it they will never do a thing out of love for God
but only out of love for themselves and fear of being condemned.

So then, it is impossible for this holy faith to be unfruitful in a
human being, seeing that we do not speak of an empty faith but of what
Scripture calls "faith working through love," which leads a
man to do by himself the works that God has commanded in his Word.

WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH 1646

Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth: not by
infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by
accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing
wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; not by
imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical
obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience
and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him
and his righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves,
it is the gift of God.

Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is
the alone instrument of justification; yet is it not alone in the person
justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is
no dead faith, but worketh by love.

BAPTIST CONFESSION 1689

Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth, not by
infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by
accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything
wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; not by
imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical
obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing Christ's
active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in his death
for their whole and sole righteousness by faith, which faith they have
not of themselves; it is the gift of God.

Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is
the alone instrument of justification; yet it is not alone in the person
justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is
no dead faith, but worketh by love.

Copyright Dr Joe Mizzi.
Permission to copy and distribute this article without textual changes. <
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